Mini Mating Nucs Part 1: Background

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The first section is a brief survey of mini-mating nucs, discussing the whats, whys and how to's.

The intention is to stimulate the curiosity of beekeepers who may not be familiar with the concept.

The second section deals with plans for making a mini-mating nuc.

A mini-nuc has all of the components of a standard hive but with a few features added on.

In the plans that follow, we will only focus on the added steps.

Mini-Mating Nucs - Part 1: Background

Introduction

Consider the honey bee. A tiny insect, no bigger than

your thumbnail. Yet the role of the honey bee in the natural

world is huge¡­ beyond big.

Also in the beekeeping world, we can see this same

theme played out in the nucleus hive - or nuc. A nuc is a

small hive, usually 4 or 5 frames, which has become an

important tool for today¡¯s beekeepers.

What is a Mini-Mating Nuc

A mini-nuc is a tiny version of a NZ standard Langstroth-style

hive. Whereas a nuc is half the size of a standard hive, the

mini-nuc is yet again half the size of a nuc - or one fourth the

size of the standard (photo right, a 4 chambered mini-nuc).

Working a mini-nuc

We read the words ¡°mini-mating nuc¡± and the impression is that these are used strictly for getting a virgin queen mated.

As we shall see, this is certainly not the case.

Mini-nucs can certainly be used for mating a virgin queen, but they can also be used for makings splits and divides, for

replacing winter kill, for starter and finisher colonies when grafting queens, for raising queens from eggs, for splitting hives

and even for overwintering replacement colonies.

Mini-nucs should be approached with the idea that these tiny hives are ¡°starter¡± colonies. Eventually, the colony in a mininuc will be moved to larger (permanent) hive.

Deep (FD) vs. Mediums (3/4)

Most mini-nucs used to be deep frames,

There are, however, more and more beekeepers working with

medium depth frames; these are truly tiny frames. (see photo)

Why? A number of years ago, we began switching all of our

equipment over to medium depth.

It lightened the load on the back when lifting super and most

importamtly, required only one style of equipment for the

entire operation.

Using medium depth mini-nucs keeps true to this theme.

Do medium depth mini-nucs work?

We think so, although these tiny hives do require a bit more

timely manipulations than their ¡°deep¡± cousins.

A medium-depth mini-frame.

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The Importance of Feeding

First, a small colony needs the extra boost that feeding can provide.

Second, feeding stimulates brood production and the drawing of the

comb. Third, monitoring feeding provides a simple visual clue as to

how things are going inside the mini-nuc.

If the amount of syrup in the jar is not declining, then this could be sign

that something unusual is going on and the mini-nuc needs attention.

The plans include an inner cover including four 1/2 a litre jars of syrup

(1:1) ) with perforated lids as top feeders.

Drawing Foundation

Feeding a mini-nuc. colony.

Put mini-frames in an established strong hive and let the bees draw

out the comb. The best time of year for this is in early spring, when

the they are in comb-building mode.

Even if you have no immediate need for these drawn out miniframes, it is a good idea to do so and put the drawn out mini-frames

in storage. The day will soon arrive when you need them.

Populating a Mini-Nuc

Get that initial population of bees for a mini-nuc from a strong healthy hive. You don¡¯t need many, a couple of cups will do.

Open up a parent colony, go into the brood chamber and look for a frame full of young nurse bees.

(They are the ones that draw the comb, feed the larvae and generally run the hive)

Make sure the queen is not on this frame and shake the bees into the mini-nuc. A full size frame covered in bees should

be enough to fully populate two mini-nucs. Spray the bees with a light sugar syrup before you shake them into the mini-nuc,

to keep them calm and together after you shake them. Close up the mini-nuc entrance overnight. Be sure to put a feed jar

(1:1 sugar syrup) over the hole provided for this in the inner cover. The mini-nuc can be opened for business as usual the

next day.

Transferring to Permanent Hive

Transferring mini-nuc frames is relatively simple, just move a set ot two miniframes, bees and all, into their permanent home replacing one standard frame.

Notice the clip to supported the end-to-end mini frames in the middle, as shown

in the picture.(refer to the plans for making this clip.)

The transfer will probably be done when the mini-frames are nearly full of

sealed brood and/or uncapped larva.

After a couple of weeks, when the larva have emerged, the mini-frames can be

moved back into the mini-nuc to begin another cycle.

Full size hive. Note white transfer clip.

Mini-nuc Queen Introductions

We have have several options: you can use a ripe queen cell, a virgin queen or even a mated queen.The techniques for a

mini-nuc are identical to those you would use for a queen introduction to a standard hive. If you are working with a ripe

queen cell, hang the cell between the frames or on drawn comb. This is no different than in a full-size nuc. Mark the

calendar on the day the queen is introduced. It takes about three days after the queen emerges for her integument to

harden sufficiently so that she can fly. Allow another three or four days for her mating flights. After 10 days, you can inspect

the mini-nuc for the queen and eggs, a sign of a successful introduction.

Summary

Mini-mating nucs appear to be an idea whose time has come. They are easy to work with, open up new vistas and are¡­ just

plain fun to work with. You will have little invested and a lot to gain. You will only have a small quantity of bees in the mininuc, so the parent colony should not be adversely affected. You will know within a couple of days if the effort will work. If it

does not, you can return the ¡°borrowed¡± bees back to their parent colony and be none the worse for wear.

Hopefully we have your interest.

Now lets move on to part 2 of these plans and go out to the workshop and build a mini-nuc.

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Mini-Mating Nucs - Part 2: Building Your Own

Introduction

This mini-nuc is basicly a NZ standard Longstroth hive body devided into four seperate mini-nucs (Figure1)

The components of the standard hive modified for a mini-nuc are:

a, The screened bottom board, b, The hive body (nuc box), c, The frames d, The inner cover

In the plans that follow, each of these components are addressed.

Enjoy!

Construction Details: Mini Bottom Board

2

3

50

40

5

49

39

5

75

40

Fram

e

40

5

41

0

50

39

5

The mini-nuc screened bottom board starts with a

standard 10-frame screened bottom board. Two

perpendicular fillers divide the top into four sections and

two gated openings are provided for each of the four

chambers.

For the frame insert you need:

2 side pieces 495 long by 40 wide x 20.

1 front piece 395 long by 40 wide x 20.

1 end piece 395 long by 50 wide x 20.

Assemble with half lap joints as shown.

Another option: Modify a standard open mesh floor!

5

49

4

5

10

4

395

495

En

d

20

e

Sid

Front

From the side pieces, cut a rabbet 10mm deep and

20mm wide. This will allow the end to butt up against

the side creating a rebate joint.

Back

Nail here

Note the front rail only has the top frame dado and

does not have the bottom sampling board dado.

7

6

20

25

375

20

25

465

25

20

10

25

There are two gated openings for each chamber (blue

arrows) located on the outside rails. Each opening is

located 100mm (aprroximately)from the corner.

8

Screw

Entrace block

8

Frame

From a 1x4" cut a filler 465 long and a second filler

375 long (top). Both fillers are 25 wide.

In each of the cross pieces, cut a dado 10 deep and

25 wide (middle). Center the dado along the length.

Assemble the fillers by matching the dados (bottom).

The tops of the fillers should be flush.

75

Top View

10

Screw for pivot

30 deg

75

Small gap

Detail of the gated opening. The entrance opening is

75 wide and 10mm deep with a 30 degree angle for

the cross cut. Each entrance block is 8mm thick. Pivot

screw is countersunk, flush to the top.

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Construction Details: The Mini-Nuc Hive Body

9

238

The hive body depicted is a standard full depth, you can also

make a mini-nuc from a 3/4 depth hive body (185mm).

Where appropriate, we will provide the dimensions for both in

the plans that follow.

40

5

5

50

Start with a standard, 10-frame hive body.

Interior partitions are added to create four chambers.

Each chamber has an entrance hole in the low er corner.

10

Cross-wise partition

Constructed of five pieces of 10mm plywood.

The centre piece is 365mm long and 245 high.

The four outer pieces are each 180mm long and 225

high. When assembled, the center piece will extend

7mm above the hive body.

(For 3/4 body: Centre piece hight:193mm

:Outer pieces:172mm)

Step 1.(10) Assemble cross-wise partition.

Step 2.(11) Prepare length-wise partitions and cut 5mm

wide dados on both ends of inner the hive body,10mm deep.

Step 3. (11) Place the assembly on a flat surface and make

sure the crosswise partition is placed square on the hive body.

With all this into place, fasten the centre of the cross-section

with 2x 3 screws from the outside.

11

Length-wise partition

The two 5mm partitions are 234mm long and 245mm

high and slide into the dados on both ends of the hive

body and the cross-wise partition.

For 3/4 body: Partition hight:192mm

Step 4. Drill additional entrance holes in each chamber.

Step 5. Cut 4 inspection covers 250 by 205mm(Optional)

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